The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that multilingualism plays in the identity formation of German-speaking emigrants in South Africa. In the era of globalization society multilingualism has gained greater value, to such an extent that multilingualism can be seen as the norm, whereas monolingualism is the exception. The importance of multilingualism and its effect on an individual‟s social and language identity has been debated by leading German academics such as Esser, Dirim and Krumm. In the South African context multilingualism is part of daily life, therefore it is not questioned how this multicultural world influences the way South Africans see themselves and interact with the world around them. Here the question comes to mind in what way this language-cultural diversity effects the identity formation of emigrants, who speak a language that is not part of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Therefore it is important to determine in what way the language and the social environment influence the development of their individual and social identities as well as determine in what way they contribute to the active integration into the community.
With the help of different theories as well as through an empirical study of German immigrants in South Africa this paper will focus on their social and language identity and what effect, if any, multilingualism has on their identity formation. The paper attempts to explain theoretically the connection between language and identity and then through empirical research demonstrate the influence of language on identity and integration.